The Connect Experience

The premier event for those who design, build & operate next-generation data centers

3 Co-located events, covering the full digital infrastructure ecosystem
Hear from 130+ leading experts from across the data center industry
60+ Exhibitors showcasing the latest tech
Network with 800+ senior data center professionals

Content aligned to your core challenges

Across a series of expert-led major panel discussions, Chatham-house rule debates, interactive workshops, and closed-door lunch briefings you can tailor your agenda to the challenges most pertinent to you, uncovering innovative solutions and strategies that enable you to drive your business forward.

In every session, you'll uncover the latest best-practice to fine-tune your operations, with plenty of opportunity for Q&A and peer-to-peer collaboration!

Energy & Sustainability

Key Speakers

Understand how you can measure, manage & mitigate the environmental impact of your facilities, identify new technology solutions for decarbonizing digital infrastructure and explore how leading Hyperscale & Enterprise operators and incorporating sustainability into their strategies to ensure they're efficiently managing next-gen workloads.

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Key Speakers

Managing Director, Clear Sustainability

Loren Long

Managing Director, Clear Sustainability

Loren Long is an advisor, entrepreneur, and author with over 25 years of experience in technology, strategy, and sustainability. Currently, he is managing director with Clear Sustainability, an advisory practice to help data center operators implement comprehensive, executable sustainability programs. He also advises on investor due diligence around sustainability, ESG, and regulatory issues. In 2012, he co-founded and developed one of the pioneering edge data center companies, DartPoints, that was acquired in 2020. Early in his career, he served in the US Army as airborne ranger infantry officer. Loren earned his BS in Physics and Nuclear Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point, MBA from the University of Texas at Dallas, and MSc in Environment and Sustainability from the University of London. He lives outside London with his wife and family.

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Executive Director, iMasons Climate Accord

Miranda Gardiner

Executive Director, iMasons Climate Accord

Miranda Gardiner is the Executive Director of the iMasons Climate Accord, a non-profit composed of 250+ member companies, representing more than $6T in market cap, and aligned on global carbon accounting of digital infrastructure. The organization is focused on influencing market-based decisions and driving the data center industry to ultimately achieve net zero carbon.
With over 16 years of experience, Miranda is a driven, professional manager with extensive industry experience in green buildings, energy and water efficiency, and sustainable master plans and policies. She is passionate about the environment and improving sustainability practices through local and global engagement, with a proven record of working for international sustainability organizations like the US Green Building Council and in 2020, was recognized by USGBC as a LEED Fellow.
Miranda is an enthusiastic author and public speaker who clearly communicates with peers, clients, and corporations to achieve individual and departmental goals. She thrives in implementing sustainable practices that result in significant cost savings, improved efficiency, and reduced environmental impact. Additionally, she is distance running coach and cycling instructor, who believes that caring for oneself resonates in caring for the planet; she has completed 8 marathons and 3 ultramarathons.

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Safaa Adbel Baki

Digital Strategy & Sustainability Consultant, LTA

Data Center Cooling

Key Speakers

Explore the evolving cooling mix for 2025 and beyond, exploring different solutions to identify the right balance between resilience, cost effectiveness and sustainability, while also meeting the growing demands of modern, high density workloads.

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Key Speakers

Global Director, Mission Critical Facilities, Royal HaskoningDHV

Martien Arts

Global Director, Mission Critical Facilities, Royal HaskoningDHV

Martien is Global Director for Mission Critical Facilities at Royal HaskoningDHV, an independent consultancy which integrates more than 140 years of engineering expertise with digital technologies and software solutions.
Martien is working with more than 300 data center multi-discipline colleagues from different continents on the most challenging projects across the globe.
Throughout the years, he has received growing recognition as an expert in the data center industry and project advisor with a strong focus on clients’ business case and technical innovation. He is continually innovating to enable data centers to run more sustainably, effectively and efficiently, with increasing reliability.

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Regional Director, Middle East, Turkey & Central Asia (METCA), Vertiv

Tassos Peppas

Regional Director, Middle East, Turkey & Central Asia (METCA), Vertiv

As the Regional Director for Vertiv in the METCA region, Tassos has led transformative growth, unifying diverse territories and driving innovative strategies. With over 24 years of data center sales experience, he has consistently delivered exceptional results across various regions. His leadership is fueled by a passion for growth, customer satisfaction, and fostering an environment of collaboration and innovation.

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Mission Critical Power

Key Speakers

Understand how your peers are tackling the evolution of grid interactivity and securing power supply, with technology deep-dives into microgrids, onsite generation and energy storage. You can expect in-depth insights into the ways power design is evolving for higher densities.

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Key Speakers

EMEA Associate Director - Data Centers, UBS

Ishaak Khan

EMEA Associate Director - Data Centers, UBS

Ishaak Khan is the EMEA Data Centre Associate Director for UBS AG. Having started in the industry at the age of 16, Ishaak has progressed from operational roles to becoming a senior leader within the data centre environment for the global investment bank UBS in the EMEA region. He holds a Chartered Engineer designation with an Electrical and Electronic Engineering degree from London and is currently halfway through his second degree.

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Managing Director, WB Engineers + Consultants

Jimmy Sneed

Managing Director, WB Engineers + Consultants

In his role as the Managing Director of Data Centers, Jimmy advises on all data center design projects and manages the firm’s corporate data center accounts. He is dedicated to driving innovation in data center design, with a passion for making the world better by designing secure and sustainable data centers. Jimmy’s career reflects his pursuit of quality and innovation in the data center market. Balancing emerging technologies and industry best practices, Jimmy guides clients such as Amazon, Verizon, and Microsoft to modernize existing infrastructure, streamline operations, drive cost efficiencies, and integrate renewable energy sources for sustainability.

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Ahmed Abdelwahab

Infrastructure General Manager, Egypt Post

Management & Operations

Key Speakers

Learn how you can leverage AI, automation, and software defined technologies to enhance your data center operations, gain insights from peers on overcoming the challenges of DCIM and predictive analytics, and explore strategies for balancing scalability, security, and sustainability. Expect an in-depth discussion on optimizing efficiency across on-prem, colocation, and cloud environments.

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Key Speakers

Mohamed Sadek

IT Operations Head, EGBANK
Director and Founder, MissionProcure | Grezya Partner

Marynet Bassily

Director and Founder, MissionProcure | Grezya Partner

Marynet Bassily is a seasoned supply chain expert leading MissionProcure, a consultancy specialising in data centre supply chains. With over two decades of experience, she builds resilient, secure, and high-performing supply chains. Her in-depth industry knowledge and expertise in risk mitigation, vendor management, and data analytics deliver exceptional value.
Marynet drives multi-million-pound initiatives and forges global partnerships. She offers tailored strategic consulting, vendor connections, and supply chain optimisation to address data centre challenges. With a proven track record of delivering results, she optimises procurement processes and strengthens supply chains.

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Head of Procurement, Pure Data Centres Group

Scott McCarry

Head of Procurement, Pure Data Centres Group

Scott is the Head of Procurement for Pure Data Centres, where he is responsible for developing and implementing equipment supply chains across Pure’s global fleet of data centre construction projects. Working exclusively in the data centre industry since 2012 delivering projects across the Middle East, Europe and Asia; Scott has developed a deep understanding of the supply chain value, associated risks, challenges and economics.
Scott possesses a degree in Quantity Surveying from Edinburgh Napier University and has a background in the commercial management and procurement of global hyperscale data centre projects

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Data Center Construction

Key Speakers

Get to grips with how the AI boom is driving changes in site-selection, pre-construction and the design and build of facilities, with insights into the latest construction technologies and techniques being leveraged in order to meet the industry’s changing requirements for high density.

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Key Speakers

Wassim Zoueihed

Director of Engineering, PTS Middle East
Jamie Darragh

Technical Director, Black & White Engineering
Co-Founder and Principal, UBIK

Carlos Garcia

Co-Founder and Principal, UBIK

Carlos is a qualified Architect, having earned his degree from the prestigious Madrid Polytechnic University. He also holds a master’s degree in Project Management from the Madrid Architecture Center, further solidifying his expertise in the field.
Over the years, Carlos has established himself as a thought leader in the data center industry. He has served as a keynote speaker at the renowned DatacenterDynamics series of events, sharing his insights in global venues such as Mumbai, Bangalore, Doha, and Riyadh.
Currently, Carlos is the Co-Founder and Principal of UBIK, a Dubai-based consultancy specializing in data center services. UBIK provides comprehensive Design, Consultancy, and Audit solutions to clients across the Middle East and Africa. Its service portfolio spans the entire lifecycle of data centers, from planning and design to implementation and optimization.
As a niche consultancy, UBIK is exclusively dedicated to Data Centers and Telco Centers. Backed by its founders’ combined industry experience of over 50 years, UBIK has become a trusted partner for organizations seeking world-class expertise and tailored solutions.

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Cloud & Hybrid

Key Speakers

Get to grips with how global rapid adoption of cloud and hybrid IT models is continuing to reshape the data center and digital infrastructure landscapes in 2025, with exclusive insights into security protocols in place to cope with surging demands and the impact of strict regulations on scalability and AI-driven operations

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Key Speakers

Principal Consultant, STL Partners

Joe Hurman

Principal Consultant, STL Partners

Joe is a Principal Consultant at STL Partners, with a background in technology strategy & implementation, spanning infrastructure, platforms and software. Since joining STL Partners, he has led strategic engagements with digital infrastructure firms ranging from corporate strategy for a telecoms holdco through to market analysis of data centre construction and connectivity. Joe leads STL's data centre practice and holds a BA in Economics from Durham University.

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Roger Habr

Chief Data and AI Officer, Gulf Data Hub

Telecoms & Connectivity

Key Speakers

Addressing the convergence of the IT and telco sectors, you can expect insights into managing data networks in an increasingly capacity constrained world, the importance of upgrading networking infrastructure to support higher capacities and the latest network innovations driving next-gen computing capabilities.

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Key Speakers

Darren Stratton

Director - Project Development, DataVolt

Investments & Markets

Key Speakers

Understand how shifting market dynamics, capital strategies, and investment trends are shaping data center finance. Explore which regions are attracting investment, how funding models are evolving, and the key economic forces driving digital infrastructure growth.

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Key Speakers

Managing Director, MENA, Equinix

Kamel Al Tawil

Managing Director, MENA, Equinix

Kamel Tawil joined Equinix in September 2020 as Managing Director MENA (Middle East and North Africa) and he is responsible for developing MENA markets to deliver world class digital infrastructure solutions, building a network dense ecosystem. Prior, Mr. Tawil spent 18 years at Oracle in various leadership roles across ECEMEA (East Central Europe, Middle East and Africa) where he led major digital transformation projects.

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Hassan Alnaqbi

CEO, Khazna Data Centers
Data Centre Lead, Consulting, MEA, JLL

Priyanka Nagpal

Data Centre Lead, Consulting, MEA, JLL

With over 12 years of real estate research, pricing and acquisition strategy, consumer analytics and data centre experience, Priyanka holds a reputation as an ethical and reliable advisor in the corporate real estate domain across the region. She has an extensive skill set specific to data centre advisory, with over five years of dedicated experience working on data centre projects.

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Compute, Storage & Networking

Explore the rapidly evolving ecosystem of advanced compute - including the ongoing growth in demand for cloud and it's role in the AI/HPC landscape - identifying strategies and best-practice that can be deployed to close the IT/OT divide whilst maintaining a robust, adaptable base infrastructure.

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Compare innovative solutions from the industry's leading vendors, all in one place

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Tech Discovery opportunities in-depth...

5x5 Lightning Pitches

Welcome to the DCD 5x5 pitch session; where innovation meets precision. You'll enjoy rapid-fire pitches from technology providers across the industry, where each partner has 5 minutes and 5 slides to deliver their boldest ideas and game-changing solutions.

Fast-paced and impactful, these on-stage presentations are where the future of digital infrastructure takes shape. Post-presentation, you can follow up with speakers on the show floor, getting your key questions on their pitches answered 1-2-1.

Hands-on Tech Demos

On Day One, you'll have the chance to get hands-on with some of the latest solutions during the dedicated Explore the Floor Hour. Product experts will be on-hand throughout the event to answer your questions and help problem-solve some of your procurement challenges.

The Show Floor is also open throughout the day on Day Two, to enable you to have in-depth conversations with suppliers and their product development teams.

Network with peers in-style with a host of unrivalled networking opportunities

Build relationships at privately-hosted dinners with like minded executives

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Network over complimentary refreshments at one of DCD's iconic networking parties

Identify solutions to your core challenges at a closed-door lunch briefing

Meet with fellow delegates & event partners in the DCD Business Lounge, a dedicated space for you to catch up on emails, host private conversations away from the Show Floor, or take some downtime from the event

Close out your time over networking refreshments on the show floor

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Enjoy premium hospitality with peers, as you enjoy hosted food and beverages throughout

Tailor your networking to your interests...

- April 15, 2025, 12:00 — 13:15
- Hospitality & Networking
- Invite-only Session
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- April 15, 2025, 18:30 — 20:30
- Hospitality & Networking
- Open Session
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- April 16, 2025, 16:00 — 17:00
- Hospitality & Networking
- Open Session
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View all Hospitality & Networking sessions

Connect | MENA // The Connect Experience

The premier event for those who design, build & operate next-generation data centers

Content aligned to your core challenges

Energy & Sustainability

Key Speakers

Key Speakers

Data Center Cooling

Key Speakers

Key Speakers

Mission Critical Power

Key Speakers

Key Speakers

Management & Operations

Key Speakers

Key Speakers

Data Center Construction

Key Speakers

Key Speakers

Cloud & Hybrid

Key Speakers

Key Speakers

Telecoms & Connectivity

Key Speakers

Key Speakers

Investments & Markets

Key Speakers

Key Speakers

Compute, Storage & Networking

Compare innovative solutions from the industry's leading vendors, all in one place

Tech Discovery opportunities in-depth...

5x5 Lightning Pitches

Hands-on Tech Demos

Network with peers in-style with a host of unrivalled networking opportunities

Tailor your networking to your interests...